Method for air-cooled reinforcing of glass sheet

ABSTRACT

An air-cooling/tempering device for a glass plate capable of providing uniform cooling performance and an air-cooling/tempering method for a glass plate capable of air-cooling and tempering efficiently are presented.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an air-cooling/tempering device and anair-cooling/tempering method for a glass plate used for transportingmachines such as automobiles, ships, railways, airplanes and so on orother various usage such as buildings and so on.

BACKGROUND ART

There has been known a method for bend-shaping a glass plate bytransferring a glass plate heated to around a softening temperature in aheating furnace on a roller conveyor comprising a plurality of curvedrollers (in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,246). According to thismethod, the softened glass plate falls by its own weight, so that theglass plate is bent to meet the curvature of the rollers. In this case,the glass plate is bend-shaped in a direction perpendicular to atransferring direction of the glass plate.

In description, bend-shaping in a direction perpendicular to atransferring directions means that the shape of a bend-shaped glassplate is a shape curved around the axis of the transferring direction.In other words, the bend-shaped glass plate has a curved shape in crosssection taken vertically along the axis of the transferring direction.“Bend-shaping along a transferring direction” means similarly that theshape of a bend-shaped glass plate is a shape curved around the axisperpendicular to the transferring direction. In other words, thebend-shaped glass plate has a curved shape in cross section takenvertically along the axis perpendicular to the transferring direction.With respect to the shape of a curved plane formed by a plurality ofrollers as described hereinbelow, “curved in (along) a transferringdirection”, “curved in a transferring direction” or the like have thesame meaning as “bend-shaped in (along) a transferring direction”. Also,in description of the curved plane concerning a direction perpendicularto a transferring direction, the same meaning as “bend-shaped in adirection perpendicular to a transferring direction” should be taken.

In this description, “perpendicular to a certain direction” means adirection perpendicular to a certain direction on a horizontal plane.Further, “upper” or “lower” in this description means “upper” or “lower”with respect to a horizontal plane.

In automobile industries in recent years, a demand of production ofsmall quantity and large variety has been increasing, and glass plateshaving various curvatures are needed so as to correspond to models ofautomobiles. In a method described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,246(hereinbelow, referred to simply as the '246 method), it was necessaryto exchange rollers to those having a curvature corresponding to a modelof automobile. The exchanging took much time, and it was necessary toprepare rollers having a curvature required for the model.

Further, in the '246 method, glass plates are transferred in a directionperpendicular to a direction to be bent. In this case, in bend-shaping aglass plate for a side window of an automobile for instance, thedirection of a side of the glass plate when it is fitted to anautomobile, corresponds to the direction of extending of the rollers.Accordingly, a stripe-like roller strain due to the contact of therollers to the glass plate is formed in a vertical direction in a stateof being assembled, and therefore, the stripe-like strain by the rollersis apt to be conspicuous. With respect to this, detailed descriptionwill be made hereinbelow.

When a glass plate is transferred by means of rollers, a so-calledroller strain is formed by the contact of the glass plate with therollers. Each of the rollers is extended in a direction perpendicular tothe transferring direction, and they are arranged adjacently in thetransferring direction. Therefore, the roller strain is formed in astripe form in a direction perpendicular to the transferring directionof the glass plate.

Usually, it is difficult to find the roller strain by human eyes, andthe roller strain is never an obstacle to visibility in use. However, itis seldom to find the roller strain depending on a condition of use andlight incident to the glass plate. For example, a stripe-like strainextending in a vertical direction of a glass plate in a state that theglass plate is assembled to an automobile is easy to see in comparisonwith a stripe-like strain extending in a horizontal direction in anassembled state. Accordingly, it is preferred to make the transferringdirection of the glass plate to be bend-shaped coincident with ahorizontal direction in an assembled state.

On the other hand, when a glass plate is bend-shaped along thetransferring direction, the thickness in apparent of the glass plateviewed from the frontage of an air-cooling/tempering device becomeslarge. Accordingly, in a conventional air-cooling/tempering device for aglass plate, a large frontage is required. When the frontage is madelarge, the distance between the air-blowing ports of theair-cooling/tempering device and the surface of the glass plate is largewhereby the cooling performance is reduced.

As a bend-shaping method for a glass plate wherein the transferringdirection of the glass plate to be bend-shaped is made coincident withthe horizontal direction in an assembled state, and the frontage forintroducing glass plates in the air-cooling/tempering device is madesmall, the method as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,327 is known.According to this method, a glass plate is bend-shaped by heating theglass plate to around a softening temperature in a heating furnace andtransferring the glass plate by means of a plurality of rollers arrangedwith an inclination in the transferring direction so as to curve thetransferring path. In this method (hereinbelow, referred to as the '327method), since the softened glass falls by its own weight, the glassplate is bent to meet a curvature of the transferring path. In thiscase, the glass plate is bend-shaped in the transferring direction.

In the '327 method, however, it was necessary to change the arrangementof rollers so as to form a transferring path having a curvature whichmeets a specified model among various models. The exchange took muchtime. Further, in the '327 method, the transferring direction of theglass plate is changed to a vertical direction. Therefore, the entireequipment used for the '327 method is inevitably large. Further, thetransferring direction of the glass plate has to be changed from thevertical direction to the horizontal direction whereby a complicatedmechanism is needed.

The glass plate bend-shaped as described above is, then, transferred tothe air-cooling/tempering device in which air-cooling and tempering areeffected. In this case also, the glass plate is air-cooled and temperedwhile it is transferred by a roller conveyor. Namely, the glass plate istransferred by the roller conveyor, wherein in such transferringprocess, the glass plate is air-cooled and tempered by blowing air toits upper and lower faces through air-blowing heads arranged upper andlower sides of the roller conveyor. In this case, theair-cooling/tempering device is preferably so adapted that the blowingof air is started when the entirety of the glass plate has completelybeen transferred between the upper and lower air-blowing heads so thatthe entire surface of the glass plate can uniformly be air-cooled andtempered. Namely, the air-cooling/tempering device is formed such thatthe blowing of air is started when the entirety of the glass plate istransferred between the upper and lower air-blowing heads, and theblowing of air is stopped when the glass plate is completely passedthrough the air-blowing heads. Then, the blowing of air is started againwhen the next glass plate to be air-cooled and tempered is, in itsentirety, completely transferred between the upper and lower air-blowingheads.

However, the conventional method has a weak point such that inair-cooling and tempering the glass plate, another glass plate to besubsequently air-cooled and tempered can not be transferred between theupper and lower air-blowing heads until the glass plate subjected atpresent to air-cooling and tempering is completely passed between theupper and lower air-blowing heads, whereby, certain intervals of time isnecessary for transferring. As a result, there was a drawback that glassplates can not effectively be air-cooled and tempered.

The present invention has been made in consideration of theabove-mentioned, and the object of the present invention is to providean air-cooling/tempering device for a glass plate, which can provideuniform cooling performance.

Further, it is an object to provide an air-cooling/tempering method fora glass plate, which can effectively air-cool and temper glass plates.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anair-cooling/tempering device for a glass plate which comprises aplurality of rollers for transferring a bend-shaped glass plate and forcurving a transferring plane so as to correspond to a curved shape ofthe glass plate by being moved vertically; a plurality of upperair-blowing heads each disposed at an upper side between each adjacentrollers to blow air to an upper face of the glass plate transferred bythe plurality of rollers; a plurality of lower air-blowing heads eachdisposed at a lower side between each adjacent rollers to blow air to alower face of the glass plate transferred by the plurality of rollers;and an air-blowing head moving mechanism for moving vertically the upperair-blowing heads and the lower air-blowing heads depending on avertical position of the plurality of rollers in a state that thedistance between an upper air-blowing head and the lower air-blowinghead opposing the upper air-blowing head is kept to be constant.

According to this, the upper air-blowing heads and the lower air-blowingheads are moved vertically in response to the vertical movement of therollers, whereby uniform cooling performance can be provided.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an air-cooling/tempering device for a glass plate whichcomprises a plurality of rollers disposed at predetermined intervals andsupported by movable frames capable of moving vertically so as to moveindividually in a vertical direction to transfer a bend-shaped glassplate; upper air-blowing heads each disposed at an upper side betweeneach adjacent rollers to blow air to an upper face of the glass plate;lower air-blowing heads each disposed at a lower side between eachadjacent rollers to blow air to a lower face of the glass plate; aplurality of upper supporting frames attached with the upper air-blowingheads and supported to be capable of sliding in a vertical direction; aplurality of lower supporting frames attached with the lower air-blowingheads and supported to be capable of sliding in a vertical direction;pivot shafts each provided on each of the movable frames; disk-likepieces each provided on the same axis as the pivot shaft; swing armseach disposed between adjacent pivot shafts so that an end is supportedrotatably by a pivot shaft at one side and the other end is supported bythe pivot shaft at the other side; connecting arms each having an endconnected to one of the lower supporting frames and the end connected toa central portion of one of the swing arms; and driven arms each havingan end connected to one of the upper supporting frames and the other endmounted on an upper face of a central portion of one of the swing arms,wherein the plurality of rollers at a position where the glass plate istransferred are moved vertically with the transfer of the glass plate sothat a curved plane is formed in the transferring plane formed by theplurality of rollers at that position, the curved plane being curved ina transferring direction so as to correspond to the shape of the glassplate bend-shaped; each of the rollers are sequentially moved verticallywith the transfer of the glass plate and the curved plane is shifted inthe transferring direction of the glass plate with the transfer of theglass plate; and the upper air-blowing heads and the lower air-blowingheads each disposed between each adjacent rollers are moved verticallyso as to correspond to the vertical movement of the glass plate totransfer the bend-shaped glass plate and at the same time, to blow airto the upper and lower faces of the glass plate to thereby air-cooingand tempering the glass plate.

According to this, the upper air-blowing heads and the lower air-blowingheads are moved vertically in response to the vertical movement of therollers. Namely, the vertical movement of the rollers causes thevertical movement of the pieces by the same quantity of movement as therollers. When these pieces are moved vertically, there occurs adifference of height between adjacent pieces whereby the swing arms areinclined. The lower air-blowing heads are connected to the arms via theconnecting arms with the result that the upper air-blowing heads aremoved vertically in connection with the swing motion of the swing arms.In this case, since the connecting arms are placed at a central portionof the swing arms, the quantity of movement of the upper air-blowingheads is ½ as much as the difference of height between adjacent rollers.Further, the upper air-blowing heads are connected to the arms via thedriven arms with the result that the upper air-blowing heads are movedvertically in connection with the swing motion of the swing arms. Inthis case, since the connecting arms are placed at a central portion ofthe swing arms, the amount of movement of the upper air-blowing heads is½ as much as the difference of height between adjacent rollers.Accordingly, the upper air-blowing heads and the lower air-blowing headsare moved vertically in response to the vertical movement of therollers, and their positions are kept to be an intermediate levelbetween the adjacent rollers. With this, uniform cooling performance canbe provided.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an air-cooling/tempering method for a glass plate forair-cooling and tempering the glass plate by blowing air to an upperface and a lower face of the glass plate transferred sequentially bymeans of a transferring means through air-blowing heads disposed alongthe transferring means, which comprises using the air-blowing heads inwhich the air-blowing area is divided into a plurality of areas along atransferring direction of the transferring means; a step of stopping theblowing of air in the air-blowing area at an uppermost stream side inthe transferring direction from the beginning of the transfer of aportion of the glass plate into the air-blowing area at the uppermoststream side in the transferring direction in the air-blowing head to thetransfer of the entirety of the glass plate; a step of blowing air inthe air-blowing area at the uppermost stream side in the transferringdirection from the transfer of the entirety of the glass plate into theair-blowing area at the uppermost stream side in the transferringdirection to the transfer of the glass plate to a downstream side of theair-blowing area at the uppermost stream side in the transferringdirection; and a step of stopping the blowing of air in the air-blowingarea at the uppermost stream side in the transferring direction afterthe entirety of the glass plate has been transferred from theair-blowing area at the uppermost stream side in the transferringdirection.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an air-cooling/tempering method for a glass plate forair-cooling and tempering the glass plate by blowing air to an upperface and a lower face of the glass plate transferred sequentially bymeans of a transferring means through air-blowing heads disposed alongthe transferring means, wherein the air-blowing head has an air-blowingarea which is divided into a first area at an upper stream side in thetransferring direction of the transferring means and a second area at adownstream side thereof, and wherein a step of blowing air in the firstand second areas when the entirety of the glass plate is transferredinto the first area, a step of stopping the blowing of air in the firstarea when the entirety of the glass plate is passed through the firstarea, and a step of reopening the blowing of air in the first area whenthe next glass plate is transferred into the first area to which theblowing of air has been stopped, are repeated sequentially.

According to this, when the entirety of the glass plate transferred bymeans of the transferring means is transferred into the first area, airis blown into the first area and the second area. When the entirety ofthe glass plate is passed through the first area, the blowing of air inthe first area is stopped, and another glass plate to be subsequentlyair-cooled and tempered is transferred into the first area to which theblowing of air is stopped. Accordingly, time intervals for transferringglass plates can be shortened whereby the glass plates can effectivelybe air-cooled and tempered.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an air-cooling/tempering method for a glass plate forair-cooling and tempering the glass plate by blowing air to an upperface and a lower face of the glass plate transferred sequentially bymeans of a transferring means through air-blowing heads disposed alongthe transferring means wherein the air-blowing head has an air-blowingarea which is divided into a plurality of areas along the transferringdirection of the transferring means, and wherein a step of blowing airfrom all divided areas when the entirety of the glass plate istransferred into the air-blowing area of the air-blowing head, a step ofstopping the blowing of air in the order of areas through which theglass plate is passed, a step of reopening the blowing of air from theall divided areas when the entirety of the next glass plate istransferred into the areas to which the blowing of air is stopped, and astep of stopping the blowing of air in the order of areas through whichthe glass plate is passed, are repeated sequentially.

According to this, when the entirety of the glass plate transferred bythe transferring means is transferred between the upper and lowerair-blowing heads, air is blown from all the areas. Then, with thetransfer of the glass plate, the blowing of air is sequentially stoppedin the order of areas through which the glass plate is passed, andanother glass plate to be subsequently air-cooled and tempered istransferred to the areas to which the blowing of air is stopped.Accordingly, time intervals for transferring glass plates can beshortened, and the glass plates can effectively be air-cooled andtempered.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an air-cooling/tempering method for a glass plate forair-cooling and tempering the glass plate by blowing air to an upperface and a lower face of the glass plate transferred sequentially bymeans of a transferring means through air-blowing heads disposed alongthe transferring means, wherein the air-blowing area of the air-blowingheads is divided into a plurality of areas along the transferringdirection of the transferring means, and air is blown from only theair-blowing area of the area which corresponds to the position of theglass plate during the transfer when the entirety of the glass plate istransferred into the air-blowing area of the air-blowing head.

According to this, when the entirety of the glass plate transferred bythe transferring means is transferred into the air-blowing area of theair-blowing head, air is blown from only the air-blowing head of thearea corresponding to the position of the glass plate during thetransfer. With this, time intervals for transferring glass plates can beshortened, and the glass plates can effectively be air-cooled andtempered.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of a glass platebend-shaping line in which the air-cooling/tempering device of thepresent invention is assembled.

FIG. 2 is a transition diagram showing operations of bending a glassplate by means of roller conveyors.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the constructions of a rollerrotating/driving means and a vertical direction driving means.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the entire construction of theair-cooling/tempering device.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the construction of an important portionof the air-cooling/tempering device.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the construction of an important portionof the air-cooling/tempering device.

FIG. 7 is a transition diagram for explaining the function of theair-cooling/tempering device.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the construction of an important portionof the air-cooling/tempering device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the function of the air-cooling/tempering methodfor a glass plate according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the function of the air-cooling/tempering methodfor a glass plate according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of the function of the air-cooling/tempering methodfor a glass plate according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the air-cooling/tempering device and theair-cooling/tempering method for a glass plate according to the presentinvention will be described in detail with reference to the attacheddrawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of a glass platebend-shaping line in which the air-cooling/tempering device of thepresent invention is assembled. With reference to FIG. 1, descriptionwill be made as to a general flow in bend-shaping processes for a glassplate.

A glass plate 18 before being bend-shaped is transferred into a heatingfurnace 12 by means of a transferring roller conveyor (not shown) afterthe position for transfer has been determined at an inlet port of theheating furnace 12. Then, it is heated to a predetermined bend-shapingtemperature (about 600-700° C.) while it is transferred in the heatingfurnace 12.

The glass plate 18 heated to the predetermined bend-shaping temperatureis placed on a bend-shaping roller conveyor 20 and is transferred into ashaping zone 14. In the process of the transfer in the shaping zone 14,a predetermined bend-shaping operation is conducted by the bend-shapingroller conveyor 20.

Subsequently, the glass plate 18 subjected to the predeterminedbend-shaping operation is moved onto an air-cooling/tempering rollerconveyor 22. Then, by the air-cooling/tempering roller conveyor 22, theglass plate is transferred into an air-cooling/tempering device 16.inwhich air-cooling and tempering are effected.

The air-cooled and tempered glass plate 18 is moved onto a deliveringroller conveyor 28 and is transferred to an inspection device (notshown) as the next step.

As described above, the glass plate is bend-shaped to have apredetermined curvature in the shaping zone 14, and then, is air-cooledand tempered in the air-cooling/tempering device 16.

Next, the construction of the shaping zone 14 will be described. First,the construction of the bend-shaping roller conveyor 20 disposed in theshaping zone 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The bend-shaping roller conveyor 20 comprises a plurality of rollers20A, 20B, . . . having a straightened form, and each of the rollers 20A,20B, . . . is arranged horizontally in parallel to a transferringdirection with predetermined intervals therebetween. With the rotationof these rollers 20A, 20B, . . . , the glass plate 18 is transferred ona transferring plane formed by these rollers 20A, 20B, . . . . Each ofthe rollers 20A, 20B, constituting the roller conveyor 20 is rotatedindependent from each other by means of a rotating/driving means, and atthe same time, it is moved in a vertical direction independently bymeans of a vertical direction driving means.

In the following, each construction of the rotating/driving means andthe vertical direction driving means will be described. Therotating/driving means and the vertical direction driving means for eachroller 20A, 20B, have the same construction. Accordingly, theconstructions of the rotating/driving means and the vertical directiondriving means for only the roller 20A will be explained for convenience,and description of the constructions for other rollers 20B, 20C, . . .is omitted.

First, the construction of the rotating/driving means will be described.As shown in FIG. 3, the roller 20A has both ends supported rotatably bybearings 32, 32 disposed on a vertically movable frame 30 so as to berotatable. A driven gear 34 is fixed to an end (a left end in FIG. 3) ofthe roller 20A, and the driven gear 34 is meshed with a driving gear 36.The driving gear 36 is attached to a spindle 40 of a servomotor 38mounted on the vertically movable frame 30. The roller 20A is rotated ata predetermined angular speed by driving the servomotor 38. Theconstruction of the rotating/driving means is as above.

Next, the construction of the vertical direction driving means will bedescribed. As shown in FIG. 3, the vertically movable frame 30 issupported by a fixed frame 42 so as to be capable of sliding vertically.Namely, guide rails 44, 44 are arranged along a vertical direction atboth sides of the vertically movable frame 30, and the guide rails 44,44 are engaged with guide blocks 46, 46 fixed to the fixed frame 42. Thevertically movable frame 30 is provided at both lower end portions withracks 48, 48 projecting toward a lower side. The racks 48, 48 are meshedwith pinions 50, 50 which are fixed to a rotating shaft 52. The rotatingshaft 52 has both ends supported by bearings 54, 54, and a spindle 58 ofa servomotor 56 is connected to an end of it (a left end in FIG. 3). Therotating shaft 52 is rotated by driving the servomotor 56 so that arotating motion of the shaft is changed to a linear motion by thefunction of the pinions 50 and the racks 48. As a result, the verticallymovable frame 30 is moved in a vertical direction. With the verticalmovement of the vertically movable frame 30, the roller 20A is movedvertically. The construction of the vertical direction driving means isas above.

In FIG. 3, reference numerals 60, 62 designate heaters disposed in theshaping zone 14.

The above-mentioned rotating/driving means and the vertical directiondriving means are provided for all other rollers 20B, 20C, . . . .Further, the servomotors 38, 56 of these driving means are controlled bya motion controller.

When the motion controller receives information of a model for the glassplate 18 from an external input means, it produces angular speedcontrolling data and vertical movement controlling data on the rollers20A, 20B, . . . so as to correspond to the curvature of the glass plate18 of that model. Then, the controller controls the servomotors 38,based on the angular speed controlling data and controls the servomotors56 based on the vertical movement control data. Namely, the motioncontroller performs multiple axis control for each of the rollers 20A,20B, . . . so that the glass plate 18 is bend-shaped to have apredetermined curvature in the transferring direction while the glassplate is transferred by the rollers 20A, 20B, . . . .

Bend-shaping operations for the glass plate 18 by the roller conveyor 20constructed as described above will be described by using FIG. 2.Characters in brackets in description correspond to the characters inthe brackets of FIG. 2.

In an initial state, all the rollers 20A, 20B, . . . are at the highestposition (A).

When the transfer of the glass plate 18 is started, rollers 20D-20F aredescended (B) whereby a transferring plane formed by the rollers 20D-20Fis changed into a gently curved shape having a large radius ofcurvature. The glass plate 18 deflects along the curved plane due to itsown weight while it is passed on the rollers 20D-20F whereby the glassplate is bend-shaped along the transferring direction.

When the glass plate 18 is further transferred, rollers 20F-20H aredescended further than the former rollers 20D-20F (C). Thus, thetransferring plane formed by the rollers 20F-20H is deformed into acurved shape having a smaller radius of curvature than the former curvedplane. The glass plate further deflects along the curved plane of therollers 20F-20H due to its own weight while it is passed on the rollers20F-20H, whereby it is bend-shaped along the transferring direction.

When the glass plate 18 is further transferred, rollers 20H-20J aredescended further than the former roller 20F-20H (D) whereby thetransferring plane formed by the rollers 20H-20J is deformed into acurved shape having smaller radius of curvature than the former curvedplane. The glass plate 18 deflects further along the curved plane of therollers 20H-20J due to its own weight during being passed through therollers 20H-20J, whereby the glass plate is bend-shaped along thetransferring direction.

When the glass plate 18 is further transferred, rollers 20J-20L aredescended further than the former rollers 20H-20J (E). Then, thetransferring plane formed by the rollers 20J-20L is deformed into acurved plane having the same radius of curvature as the finallyobtainable curvature of the glass plate 18. The glass plate 18 isbend-shaped to be the finally obtainable curvature along thetransferring direction while it is passed on the rollers 20J-20L. Thesubsequent rollers 20M, . . . are moved vertically so as to maintain thecurved plane having such curvature.

Thus, the roller conveyor 20 is operated so that the radius of curvatureof the curved plane formed by the vertical movement of the rollers 20A,20B, . . . is gradually reduced so that the glass plate 18 isbend-shaped along the transferring direction.

The construction of the air-cooling/tempering device 16 will bedescribed. The air-cooling/tempering device 16 cools and tempers theglass plate 18 by blowing air to an upper face and a lower face of theglass plate 18 transferred by the air-cooling/tempering roller conveyor22. The air-cooling/tempering roller conveyor 22 is so constructed as tobe moved vertically in the same manner as the bend-shaping rollerconveyor 20. With reference to FIG. 4-6, the construction of the rollerconveyor 22 will be described.

The roller conveyor 22 is constituted by arranging a plurality ofstraight rollers 22A, 22B, . . . in parallel at predetermined intervalsin the transferring direction horizontally. And, each of the rollers22A, 22B, . . . is rotated independent from each other byrotating/driving means and at the same time, is moved verticallyindependent from each other by means of vertical direction drivingmeans.

In the following, the construction of the rotating/driving means and thevertical direction driving means will be described. The construction ofthe rotating/driving means or the vertical direction driving means foreach of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . have the same structure.Accordingly, description of only the structure of the rotating/drivingmeans and the vertical direction driving means for the roller 20A ismade for convenience, and description of the structures for otherrollers 22B, 22C is omitted

First, the construction of the rotating/driving means will be described.As shown in FIG. 4, the roller 22A has both ends supported rotatably bybearings 72A, 72A arranged on a pair of vertically movable frames 70A,70A. The spindle of a servomotor 78A is connected to an end (a right endin FIG. 4) of the roller 22A. The roller 22A is rotated at apredetermined angular speed by driving the servomotor 78A. Theconstruction of the rotating/driving means is as above.

Next, the construction of the vertical direction driving means will bedescribed. The pair of vertically movable frames 70A, 70A are supportedrespectively by a pair of fixed frames 82A, 82A so as to be movablevertically. Namely, guide rails 84A are arranged along a verticaldirection at outer side portions of each of the vertically movableframes 70A, and the guide rails 84A are supported by guide blocks 86A,86A fixed to inside portions of the fixed frames 82A so as to be capableof sliding. Racks 88A, 88A are arranged in outer side portions of thevertically movable frames 70A, and pinions 90A, 90A are meshed with theracks 88A, 88A. The pinions 90A, 90A are fixed to a rotating shaft 92Awhich has both ends supported pivotally by bearings 94A, 94A. Thespindle of a servomotor 96A disposed at the top of one of the fixedframes 82A is connected to an end (a right end in FIG. 4) of therotating shaft 92A. The rotating shaft 92A is rotated by driving theservomotor 96A so that a rotating motion of it is changed to a linearmotion by the function of the pinions 90A and the racks 88A. As aresult, the vertically movable frames 70A are moved in a verticaldirection. With the vertical movement of the vertically movable frames70A, the roller 22A is moved in a vertical direction. The constructionof the vertical direction driving means is as above.

The above-mentioned rotating/driving means and the vertical directiondriving means are provided for all other rollers 22B, 22C, . . . .Servomotors 78A, . . . , 96A, . . . for these driving means arecontrolled by a motion controller.

When the motion controller receives information of a model for the glassplate 18 from an external input means, it prepares angular speed controldata and vertical movement control data for the rollers 22A, 22B, . . .so as to correspond to the curvature of the glass plate 18 of the model.Then, the servomotors 78A, . . . are controlled based on the preparedangular speed control data, and the servomotors 96A . . . are controlledbased on the vertical movement control data. Namely, the motioncontroller performs multiple axis control for each of the rollers 22A,22B, . . . so that the glass plate 18 bend-shaped in the shaping zone 14is transferred while the formed shape is maintained.

Next, description will be made as to the construction of theair-cooling/tempering device 16. The air-cooling/tempering device 16 isprovided with an upper air-blowing box 100 at an upper side and a lowerair-blowing box 102 at a lower side, which interpose the roller conveyor22 therebetween. The upper air-blowing box 100 and the lower air-blowingbox 102 are respectively connected with ducts 104, 106, and a blower,although not shown, is connected to these ducts 104, 106. Accordingly,when the blower is driven, cooling air generated by the blower issupplied to the upper air-blowing box 100 and the lower air-blowing box102 through the ducts 104, 106.

The cooling air supplied to the upper air-blowing box 100 is blown tothe roller conveyor 22 through nozzles 25A, 25B, . . . of upper blowingheads (air blowing heads at an upper side) 24A, 24B, . . . arranged atan upper side of spaces between adjacent rollers 22A, 22B, . . . . Onthe other hand, the cooling air supplied to the lower air-blowing box102 is blown to the roller conveyor 22 through nozzles 27A, 27B, . . .of lower air-blowing heads (air-blowing heads at a lower side) arrangedat a lower side of spaces between adjacent rollers 22A, 22B, . . . .With such, the upper face and the lower face of the glass plate 18transferred by the roller conveyor 22 are cooled.

The upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and the lower air-blowingheads 26A, 26B, . . . are arranged respectively so as to be movedvertically. Further, the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and thelower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . are respectively movedvertically in connection with the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . . The rollers22A, 22B, . . . are moved vertically with the transfer of the glassplate 18. In this case, among the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . , the rollerslocated at the position where the glass plate 18 is transferred aremoved vertically so that a transferring plane formed by the rollers atthat position has a curved plane in correspondence with the curved shapeof the bend-shaped glass plate in the transferring direction of theglass plate. With the transfer of the glass plate, each of the rollersare sequentially moved vertically so that the curved plane formed by therollers is shifted to the transferring direction of the glass plate.

In the following, description will be made as to a mechanism whichcauses a vertical movement of the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . .. and the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . .

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper air-blowing head 24A is arranged along theroller 22A. The upper air-blowing head 24A is held by a holder (an uppersupporting frame) 108A. The holder 108A has an upper portion on which apair of slide rods 110A, 110A are extended vertically, and the sliderods 110A, 110A are supported by bushes 114A, 114A provided in a slideframe 112 so as to be capable of sliding. Namely, the holder 108A issupported so as to be capable of sliding in a vertical direction withrespect to the slide frame 112.

The slide frame 112 has both end portions to which guide blocks 116, 116are firmly attached. The guide blocks 116, 116 are provided so as toslide on guide rails 120, 120 mounted on fixed frames 118, 118. Namely,the slide frame 112 is supported so as to be capable of sliding in avertical direction with respect to the fixed frames 118, 118.

Racks 126, 126 of rack jacks (upper supporting frame elevating means)124, 124 are connected to an upper portion of the slide frame 112 bymeans of connecting bars 122, 122. By driving the rack jacks 124, 124,the slide frame 112 is moved in a vertical direction.

Stoppers 110 a, 110 a are fixed to the top of the slide rods 110A, 110Aset up in the upper portion of the holder 108A. Accordingly, when theslide frame 112 is ascended, the stoppers 110 a, 110 a are pushed by theupper portion of the bushes 114A, 114A whereby the holder 108A is pulledup. Accordingly, the upper air-blowing head 24A is pulled up upward bythe holder 108A pulled up.

The inside of the upper air-blowing head 24A is partitioned into aplurality (6 in this embodiment) of spaces, and 6 air-introducing ports128A, 128A, formed in an upper face portion of the upper air-blowinghead 24A are respectively communicated with the spaces. The 6air-introducing ports 128A, 128A, . . . are respectively connected toair-supplying ports 130A, 130A, . . . formed in a lower face portion ofthe upper air-blowing box 100 through flexible pipes 132A, 132A, . . . .These flexible pipes 132A, 132A, . . . are formed flexibly so as toexpand and shrink according to the vertical movement of the upperair-blowing head 24A. Accordingly, even when the upper air-blowing head24A is moved vertically, the upper air-blowing box 100 is not movedvertically.

As described above, the upper air-blowing head 24A is supported so as tobe capable of sliding in a vertical direction. Then, the upperair-blowing head 24A is pulled up by driving the rack jacks 124, 124.

On the other hand, the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B are arrangedalong the rollers 22A, 22B, respectively, and are held by holders (lowersupporting frames) 138A, 138B, respectively. The holders 138A, 138B haveboth end portions to which rods of pairs of cylinders (lower supportingframe elevating means) 140A, 140A, 140B, 140B are connected,respectively. The cylinders 140A, 140A, 140B, 140B are respectivelyattached to connecting arms 142A, 142A, 142B, 142B, and the connectingarms 142A, 142A, for example, are capable of sliding on guide rails144A, 144A disposed on inner side faces of vertically movable frames70A, 70A via slide blocks 146A, 146A. Similarly, vertically movableframes 70B, 70C are so constructed. Accordingly, with the verticalmovement of the connecting arms 142A, 142A, the lower air-blowing head26A is moved vertically in connection with the connecting arms 142A,142A. The head is moved vertically according to the expansion orshrinkage of the rods of the cylinders 140A, 140A when they are driven.

The inside of the lower air-blowing head 26A is partitioned into aplurality (3 in this embodiment) of spaces, and 3 air-introducing ports148A, 148A, 148A formed in a lower face portion of the lower air-blowinghead 26A are respectively communicated with the spaces. The 3air-introducing ports 148A, 148A, 148A are respectively connected toair-supplying ports 150A, 150A, 150A formed in an upper face portion ofthe lower air-blowing box 102 through flexible pipes 152A, 152A, 152A.The flexible pipes 152A, 152A, 152A are formed flexibly so as to expandand shrink according to the vertical movement of the lower air-blowinghead 26A. Accordingly, even when the lower air-blowing head 26A is movedvertically, the lower air-blowing box 102 is not moved vertically.

As described above, the upper air-blowing head 24A and the lowerair-blowing head 26A are respectively supported so as to be capable ofsliding in a vertical direction. Further, other upper air blowing heads24B, 24C, . . . and the lower air-blowing heads 26B, 26C, are alsosupported so as to be capable of sliding in a vertical direction. Theupper air-blowing box 100, the lower air-blowing box 102 and the slideframe 112 are used commonly.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, pivot shafts 154A, 154B, . . . arerespectively provided in the vicinity of an upper end portion of thevertically movable frames 70A, 70B, . . . . On these pivot shafts 154A,154B, . . . , disk-like pieces 156A, 156B, . . . are supported on thesame axial line so as to be rotatable.

Further, swing arms 158A, 158B, . . . are disposed between adjacentpivot shafts 154A, 154B, . . . , and an end of the swing arms 158A,158B, . . . is supported respectively by one of the adjacent pivotshafts 154A, 154B, . . . so as to be rotatable. Each other end of themis placed on the piece 156B, 156C, . . . attached to the pivot shaft154B, 154C, . . . at the other side.

Each of the pivot shafts 154A, 154B, . . . is provided on each of thevertically movable frames 70A, 70B, . . . . Accordingly, each of thepivot shafts 154A, 154B, . . . is moved vertically in connection withthe vertical movement of each of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . which formthe roller conveyor 22. When a height difference takes place betweeneach adjacent pivot shafts 154A, 154B, . . . by the vertical movement ofthe pivot shafts 154A, 154B, the swing arms 158A, 158B, . . . areinclined in response to degrees of the height difference.

An upper end portion of the connecting arms 142A, 142B, . . . to whichthe lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . are connected, is connectedto a central portion of the swing arms 158A, 158B, . . . by means ofpins 160A, 160B, . . . respectively. Accordingly, by a swing movement ofthe swing arms 158A, 158B, . . . , the connecting arms 142A, 142B, . . .are moved vertically according to an amount of inclination of the swingarms 158A, 158B, . . . . Then, the vertical movement of the connectingarms 142A, 142B, . . . causes the vertical movement of the lowerair-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . .

On the other hand, driven arms 162A, 162B, . . . are attached to bothend portions of the holders 108A, 108B, . . . by which the upperair-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . are held (FIG. 4). On the end portionof the driven arms 162A, 162B, . . . , rollers 164A, 164B, . . . arerespectively provided rotatably as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. These rollers164A, 164B, . . . are positioned at a central portion of the swing arms158A, 158B, . . . respectively. Accordingly, a swing motion of the swingarms 158A, 158B, . . . causes a vertical movement of the driven arms162A, 162B, . . . according to an amount of inclination of the swingarms 158A, 158B, respectively. Then, the vertical movement of the drivenarms 162A, 162B, . . . causes the vertical movement of the upperair-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . .

As described above, the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and thelower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, are moved vertically in connectionwith the vertical movement of each of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . whichform the roller conveyor 22. The amount of movement of each roller is ½of a different in height of adjacent roller 22A, 22B, . . . . Namely,since the connecting arms 142A, 142B, . . . and the driven arms 162A,162B, . . . are respectively connected to an intermediate position ofthe swing arms 158A, 158B, . . . , when a difference of height takesplace between each adjacent rollers 22A, 22B, . . . they move by adistance of ½ of the difference in height. As a result, the upperair-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and the lower air-blowing heads 26A,26B, . . . are always kept to an intermediate level position betweenadjacent rollers 22A, 22B, . . . .

The function of the air-cooling/tempering device 16 having theabove-mentioned construction in this embodiment is as follows.

First, initial setting is conducted. Namely, rack jacks 124A, 124A aredriven to descend the slide frame 112 to a predetermined operationalposition (the position shown in FIG. 4). With this, each of the holders108A, 108B, . . . are supported to be movable vertically, and at thesame time, the rollers 164A,. 164B, . . . of the driven arms 162A, 162B,. . . are respectively placed on the swing arms 158A, 158B, . . . . As aresult, each of the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . is movedvertically in connection with the swing motion of the swing arms 158A,158B, . . . .

Further, the cylinders 140A, 140B, . . . are simultaneously driven toascend the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . respectively so thateach of the nozzles 27A, 27B, . . . is positioned to a position of apredetermined distance apart from the transferring plane of the rollerconveyor 22.

After the above-mentioned initial setting has been finished, thebend-shaping of the glass plate 18 is started. Description concerningthe bend-shaping method of the glass plate 18 in the shaping zone 14 hasalready been made. Accordingly, only a process for air-cooling andtempering the bend-shaped glass plate 18 will be described withreference to FIG. 7.

The glass plate 18 bend-shaped in the shaping zone 14 is transferredfrom the bend-shaping roller conveyor 20 to the air-cooling/temperingroller conveyor 22.

As shown in FIG. 7(A), all the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . constituting theroller conveyor 22 are located at the highest position in a stateprevious to the glass plate 18 being transferred thereon. Accordingly,the transferring plane is flat, and each of the upper air-blowing heads24A, 24B, . . . and lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . arepositioned at the same height level.

When the glass plate 18 is transferred from the bend-shaping rollerconveyor 20 to the air-cooling/tempering roller conveyor 22, and theglass plate 18 is entered into the air-cooling/tempering device 16, theblower (not shown) is driven so that cooling air is blown to the glassplate 18 through the nozzles 25A, 25B, . . . of the upper air-blowingheads 24A, 24B, . . . and the nozzles 27A, 27B, . . . of the lowerair-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . . Then, the glass plate 18 isair-cooled and tempered by the cooling air blown from the nozzles 25A,25B, . . . of the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and thenozzles 27A, 27B, . . . of the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . .

In the roller conveyor 22 for transferring the glass plate 18, each ofthe rollers 22A, 22B, . . . transfers the glass plate 18 while therollers are moved vertically so as to maintain the shape of thebend-shaped glass plate 18 as shown in FIGS. 7(B)-(D).

On the other hand, with the vertical movement of the rollers 22A, 22B, .. . transferring the glass plate 18, the upper air-blowing heads 24A,24B, . . . and the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . which arearranged for the roller 22A, 22B, . . . are moved vertically inconnection with the vertical movement of the rollers. In this case, theupper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and the lower air-blowing heads26A, 26B, . . . are moved vertically so that they are always positionedat an intermediate level between each adjacent rollers 22A, 22B, . . . .

As described above, in the air-cooling/tempering device 16 of thisembodiment, the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and the lowerair-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . are moved in connection with thevertical movement of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . of the roller conveyor22. In this case, the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . and thelower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . are moved vertically so thatthey are always positioned at an intermediate level between adjacentrollers 22A, 22B, . . . . With such arrangement, the distance from thetransferred glass plate 18 to the nozzles 25A, 25B, . . . , 27A, 27B, .. . of the blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . , 26A, 26B, . . . can be keptto be substantially constant whereby uniform cooling performance can beprovided.

Further, in the air-cooling/tempering device 16 of this embodiment, evenwhen a trouble happens during the air-cooling/tempering of the glassplate 18, there is an advantage that the upper air-blowing heads 24A,24B, . . . and the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . can quicklybe retracted with respect to the transferring plane.

Namely, when a trouble happens during the air-cooling and tempering, forexample, the rotation of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . of the rollerconveyor 22 is stopped first. Then, the rack jacks 124, 124 are drivento raise the slide frame 112. By raising the slide frame 112, thestoppers 110 a, 110 a of the slide rods 110A, 110B, . . . provided ineach of the holders 108A, 108B, . . . are pushed by the upper surface ofthe bushes 114A, 114B, . . . provided in the slide frame 112, wherebyeach of the holders 108A, 108B, . . . are raised. By raising each of theholders 108A, 108B, . . . , the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . .are raised simultaneously whereby they are retracted with respect to thetransferring plane of the roller conveyor 22.

Further, at the same time of driving the rack jacks 124, 124, each ofthe cylinders 140A, 140B, . . . are driven to shrink its rod, wherebyeach of the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . is lowered so thatthe air-blowing heads are retracted with respect to the transferringplane of the roller conveyor 22.

Thus, according to the air-cooling/tempering device 16 of thisembodiment, even when a trouble happens during the air-cooling andtempering of the glass plate 18, the upper air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, .. . and the lower air-blowing heads 26A, 26B, . . . can quickly beretracted with respect to the transferring plane, hence, the trouble canbe coped with quickly.

Next, a preferred sequence in the air-cooling/tempering method of thepresent invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, dampers 250A,250B, . . . , 252A, 252B, . . . are respectively provided at airsupplying ports 130A, 130B, . . . , 150A, 150B, . . . formed inair-blowing boxes 30, 32. The dampers 250A, 250B, 252A, 252B, . . . arecontrolled independently to be opened and closed by means of acontroller (not shown) respectively. Air is supplied to each of theair-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . , 26A, 26B, . . . by opening thedampers 250A, 250B, . . . , 252A, 252B, . . . , and the supply of air isstopped by closing the dampers. Thus, the air blowing area of each ofthe air blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . , 26A, 26B, . . . is divided.

The air-blowing heads 24A, 24B, . . . , 26A, 26B, are arranged to bemovable vertically, and they are moved vertically in connection with themovement of each of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . of the roller conveyor22 by means of a link mechanism (not shown).

The air-cooling/tempering device 16 is constructed as described above.The first embodiment of the air-cooling/tempering method of the presentinvention using such air-cooling/tempering device 16 is as follows. Inthe description of the construction of the device, FIG. 8 shows theglass plate 18 wherein its curved shape is omitted. Accordingly, theair-cooling/tempering method is described by using FIG. 9.

As described before, the air-cooling/tempering device 16 is so adaptedas to divide the air blowing area by controlling the dampers 250A, 250B,. . . , 252A, 252B, . . . to be opened and closed by means of thecontroller. As shown specifically in FIG. 9(A), the air blowing area isdivided at an intermediate point of the roller conveyor 22 into thefirst area X at an upstream side and the second area Y at a downstreamside, whereby air can selectively be blown in three ways: the first areaX at an upstream side, the second area Y at a downstream side, and allthe areas XY of the roller conveyor 22.

FIGS. 9(A)-9(F) show an air-cooling/tempering method in a time series of(A)→(F). Characters in brackets in the following description correspondto characters in brackets in FIG. 9.

Each of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . of the roller conveyor 22 before theglass plate 18 is transferred thereon is located at the highest position(A).

When the bend-shaped glass plate 18 is transferred on theair-cooling/tempering roller conveyor 22, the air-cooling/temperingroller conveyor 22 transfers the glass plate 18 into theair-cooling/tempering device 16 while the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . aremoved vertically so as to maintain the shape of the glass plate 18 (B).When the entirety of the glass plate 18 is transferred in the first areaX, air is blown to the roller conveyor 22 through the air-blowing heads24A-24J, 26A-26J of the whole areas XY (C). In the course that the glassplate 18 is passed through the upper and lower air-blowing heads24A-24J, 26A-26J, air is blown to the upper and lower faces whereby theglass plate is air-cooled and tempered (D).

When the glass plate 18 transferred by the roller conveyor 22 is passedthrough the first area X as shown in FIG. 9(E), the blowing of airthrough the air-blowing heads 24A-24E, 26A-26E belonging to the firstarea X is stopped. Then, in the course that the glass plate 18 isair-cooled and tempered in the second area Y, another glass plate 18A tobe air-cooled and tempered next is transferred into the first area X.When the entirety of the glass plate 18A is transferred in the firstarea X, the blowing of air through the air-blowing heads 24A-24E,26A-26E of the first area X is again started as shown in FIG. 9(F)whereby the air-cooling and tempering of the glass plate 18A is started.

In the same manner as the above above, when the glass plate 18A ispassed through the first area X, the blowing of air through theair-blowing heads 24A-24E, 26A-26E belonging to the first area X isstopped. Then, another glass plate 18″ to be air-cooled and temperednext is transferred into the first area X to which the blowing of air isstopped.

Thus, by dividing the air blowing area into two portions in thetransferring direction, the glass plate 18A to be air-cooled andtempered next can be transferred into the air-cooling/tempering device16 while the air-cooling and tempering of the glass plate 18 which hasbeen transferred into the air-cooling/tempering device 16, can beconducted. With this, the interval of glass plates 18 transferredsubsequently can be reduced whereby the glass plate 18 can effectivelybe air-cooled and tempered.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the function of a second embodiment of theair-cooling/tempering method of the present invention in which theabove-mentioned air-cooling/tempering device 16 is used. In thedescription on the function of the second embodiment, characters inbrackets correspond to characters in brackets in FIG. 10.

Each of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . of the roller conveyor 22 before theglass plate 18 is transferred thereon is located at the highest position(A).

When the bend-shaped glass plate 18 is transferred onto theair-cooling/tempering roller conveyor 22, the air-cooling/temperingroller conveyor 22 transfers the glass plate 18 into theair-cooling/tempering device 16 while the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . aremoved vertically so as to maintain the shape of the glass plate 18 (B).When the entirety of the glass plate 18 is transferred into theair-cooling/tempering device 16, air is blown to the roller conveyor 22through the air-blowing heads 24A-24J, 26A-26J of the whole areas (C).

As the transfer of the glass plate 18 proceeds, the air-blowing heads24A-24J, 26A-26J stop the blowing of air in the order of areas throughwhich the glass plate 18 is passed (D). Then, another glass plate 18A tobe air-cooled and tempered next is transferred with a predeterminedinterval into the air-cooling/tempering device 16 (E). When the entiretyof the glass plate 18A is transferred into the air-cooling/temperingdevice 16, the air-blowing heads 24A-24E, 26A-26E in the whole areasblow air again to thereby start the air-cooling and tempering of theglass plate 18A (F).

In the same manner as the above, as the transfer of the glass plate 18Aproceeds, the air-blowing heads 24A-24J, 26A-26J stop the blowing of airin the order of the areas through which the glass plate 18A is passed,and another glass plate 18B to be air-cooled and tempered next istransferred with a predetermined interval into the air-cooling/temperingdevice 16.

Thus, by stopping the blowing of air in the order of the areas throughwhich the glass plate 18 is passed, the glass plate 18A to be air-cooledand tempered next can be transferred into the air-cooling/temperingdevice 16 while the air-cooling and tempering of the glass plate 18transferred already into the air-cooling/tempering device 16 isconducted. Accordingly, the intervals of subsequently transferred glassplates 18 can be shortened whereby the glass plates 18 can be air-cooledand tempered effectively.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the function of a third embodiment of theair-cooling/tempering method of the present invention in which theabove-mentioned air-cooling/tempering device 16 is used. In thedescription of the function of the third embodiment, characters inbrackets correspond to characters in brackets in FIG. 11.

Each of the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . of the roller conveyor 22 before theglass plate 18 is transferred thereon is located at the highest position(A).

When the bend-shaped glass plate 18 is transferred on theair-cooling/tempering roller conveyor 22, the air-cooling/temperingroller conveyor 22 transfers the glass plate 18 into theair-cooling/tempering device 16 while the rollers 22A, 22B, . . . aremoved vertically so as to maintain the shape of the glass plate 18 (B).When the entirety of the glass plate 18 is transferred into theair-cooling/tempering device 16, air is blown to the roller conveyor 22through the air-blowing heads 24A-24E, 26A-26E in the area correspondingto the position of the glass plate 18 ((C), (D)).

As described before, air is blown from only the area where the glassplate 18 is located, and air is not blown from the other areas.Accordingly, air is not blown from the areas before and after theposition where the glass plate 18 is located. To the area to which airis not blown, another glass plate 18A to be air-cooled and tempered nextis transferred with a predetermined interval (E). When the entirety ofthe glass plate 18A is transferred into the air-cooling/tempering device16, air is blown to the roller conveyor 22 through the air-blowing heads24A-24E, 26A-26E of the area corresponding to the position where theglass plate 18 is located, whereby the air-cooling and tempering of theglass plate 18A is started (F).

Thus, by blowing air from only the area where the glass plate 18 islocated, the glass plate 18A to be air-cooled and tempered next can betransferred into the air-cooling/tempering device 16 in the process ofair-cooling and tempering of the glass plate 18 transferred already inthe air-cooling/tempering device 16. With this, intervals ofsubsequently transferred glass plates 18 can be shortened whereby theglass plates 18 can effectively be air-cooled and tempered.

As described above, according to the air-cooling/tempering method of theabove-mentioned embodiments, the intervals of subsequently transferredglass plates 18 can be shortened whereby the glass plates 18 caneffectively be air-cooled and tempered. The air-cooled and temperedglass plates 18 are transferred from the air-cooling/tempering rollerconveyor 22 to the delivering roller conveyor 28 to be transferred to aninspection device (not shown) at the next step.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the shaping zone 14 is formed in thehood of the heating furnace 12. Specifically, the shaping zone 14 isformed in the heating furnace 12 at a downstream side of the heatingfurnace 12. In the bend-shaping apparatus for a glass plate in thepresent invention, (i) the shaping zone may be formed in the heatingfurnace or (ii) it may be formed out of the heating furnace or (iii) apart of the shaping zone may be formed out of the heating furnace. Thelocation of the shaping zone can properly be selected among theabove-mentioned (i)-(iii) depending on dimensions and a curved shape ofthe glass plate.

First, the relation of a position of the shaping zone to a thickness ofa glass plate will be described. A tempering treatment after the glassplate has been bend-shaped is influenced by a thickness of the glassplate. Namely, a compression stress is produced in the surfaces of theglass plate and a tensile stress is produced in the inside thereof afterthe tempering treatment. These residual stresses are derived from atemperature difference between the surfaces of the glass plate and theinside of the glass plate, which is resulted from the rapidly cooling ofheating glass plate. Since it is difficult to cause such temperaturedifference in a case of a glass plate having a smaller thickness, it isnecessary to increase cooling performance at the time of rapidly coolingwhen a glass plate having a smaller thickness is to be tempered. As oneof measures to increase the cooling performance, there is a way ofincreasing a blowing pressure or an air quantity of cooling air.Alternatively, there is a way of increasing a temperature of glass plateat the time of rapidly cooling.

In the case of (i), a glass plate after having been bend-shaped canimmediately be transferred into the air-cooling/tempering device becausethe glass plate can be bend-shaped in the heating furnace. Accordingly,the glass plate can be transferred into the air-cooling/tempering devicewithout causing a reduction of the temperature of the glass plate.Accordingly, the arrangement of the shaping zone in (i) is advantageouswhen the glass plate having a smaller thickness is bend-shaped andtempered.

Next, the relation of the position of the shaping zone to a curved shapeof the glass plate will be described. In bend-shaping a glass plate intoa shape curved in plural directions (a complexly curved shape), meansfor bend-shaping the glass plate in a direction perpendicular to thetransferring direction is provided in the shaping zone. If such means isprovided in the heating furnace, it is difficult to maintain a closedspace in the heating furnace whereby there occurs the disadvantage thattemperature in the heating furnace can not be maintained to apredetermined value. In view of this, a stabilized temperature in theheating furnace can be realized by providing such means outside theheating furnace. Accordingly, the arrangement of the shaping zone in(ii) is advantageous in a case of bend-shaping the glass plate to have acomplexly curved shape.

Further, for bend-shaping/tempering processing for bend-shaping a glassplate having a smaller thickness to have a complexly curved shape, (iii)is advantageous as a compromise of (i) and (ii). The arrangement of thebend-shaping zone of (iii) is preferable not only in merely theviewpoint of the compromise but also in the following point. Namely, fora demand of small quantity-large variety of products in automobileindustries, there is a need for bend-shaping glass plates of many modelswith a single glass plate bend-shaping apparatus. There are a variety ofglass plates of different thickness depending on models. Accordingly, itis advantageous if glass plates having a variety of thickness and avariety of curved shape can be formed with a single glass platebend-shaping apparatus. The arrangement of the shaping zone applicableto such demand of small quantity and variety of products is thearrangement of (iii).

As a bend-shaping method or apparatus prior to air-cooling and temperinga glass plate, various one can be used in the present inventionregardless of whether or not they have been known or unknown. Forexample, there is a method or an apparatus wherein a lower peripheralsurface of a heated glass plate is supported by a ring, and the glassplate is held between a shaping mold disposed at an upper surface sideof the glass plate and such ring to be bend-shaped. Further, there issuch bend-shaping methods or apparatus as explained in theabove-mentioned embodiments. In either method or apparatus, the glassplate is transferred into the air-cooling/tempering device by the rollerconveyor after the glass plate has been bend-shaped. In particular, thebend-shaped methods or apparatus as explained in the above-mentionedembodiments are preferable by the reasons as described below.

Namely, as already described, it is preferable that the glass plate isbend-shaped in a direction along the transferring direction from theviewpoint of strain resulted in the glass plate. As a method forbend-shaping in the direction along the transferring direction, there isthe '326 method. In this method, however, the glass late is transferredin a vertical direction with respect to a horizontal plane. Accordingly,the entire equipment becomes large. Further, since the glass plate istransferred against gravity, it is difficult to transfer the glass plateat a high speed, and it is necessary to provide, in particular, meansfor preventing the glass plate from slipping on the rollers. Further, itis necessary that the transferring direction of the glass plate, whichhas been subjected to bend-shaping and air-cooling/tempering, has to bechanged from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction. Means forchanging the transferring direction are complicated and there is fear ofoccurrence of a flaw in the glass plate.

On the other hand, according to the bend-shaping methods and apparatusexplained on the above-mentioned embodiments, glass plates of differentmodel can be shaped by changing only vertical movement control data onthe rollers. Further, the transferring direction of the glass plate ishorizontal, and accordingly, the occurrence of a flaw in the glass platecan be suppressed. Thus, the bend-shaping methods and apparatusexplained on the above-mentioned embodiments are bend-shaping methodsand apparatus having a simple structure as a whole in the equipment,which can bend-shape the glass plate in a direction along thetransferring direction. Accordingly, as the bend-shaping methods andapparatus for a glass plate, used prior to the air-cooling and temperingof the glass plate in the present invention, the examples described inthe above-mentioned embodiments are preferable.

Since the bend-shaping methods and apparatus for a glass plate describedin the above-mentioned embodiments are preferred, it is preferable inthe present invention to constitute the transferring means fortransferring the glass plate into the air-cooling/tempering device witha plurality of rollers which cause a vertical movement in a verticaldirection depending on a position of the glass plate transferred.Hereinbelow, the reason why preferable will be described in more detail.

In the case of transferring a glass plate by rollers, a so-called rollerstrain is resulted by the contact of the glass plate with the rollers.Each of the rollers extends in a direction perpendicular to thetransferring direction, and is arranged adjacently in the transferringdirection. Therefore, the roller strain is resulted in a stripe form ina direction perpendicular to the transferring direction.

Usually, it is difficult to find such roller strain by human eyes, andis never hindered due to the roller strain in use. However, the rollerstrain is seldom found depending on states of use and light incidentinto the glass plate. For example, when a glass plate is assembled to anautomobile, a stripe-like strain extending in a vertical direction ofthe glass plate in the assembled state is apt to be visible incomparison with a stripe-like strain extending in a horizontal directionin the assembled state. Accordingly, it is preferable to make thetransferring direction of the glass plate to be bend-shaped coincidentwith a horizontal direction in the assembled state.

On the other hand, when a glass plate is bend-shaped along thetransferring direction, the thickness in apparent of the glass plateviewed from a direction of the frontage of the air-cooling/temperingdevice becomes large. Accordingly, it is necessary to keep the frontageto be large in conventional air-cooling/tempering devices for a glassplate. A large frontage will increase the distance between theair-blowing ports of the air-cooling/tempering device and the glassplate surface to thereby reduce the cooling performance.

In comparison with this, the above-mentioned embodiments areadvantageous in the following point that the glass plate is transferredby the roller conveyor capable of moving vertically, and the air-blowingheads are moved vertically with the vertical movement of the rollerconveyor. Namely, the air-cooling/tempering device according to thepreferred embodiment can change the vertical position of the frontagedepending on a curved shape of the glass plate. In this case, thefrontage of the air-cooling/tempering device for transferring the glassplate can be small, and the distance between the air-blowing heads andthe glass plate surfaces can be reduced to a predetermined short value.Accordingly, the air-cooling/tempering of the glass plate can berealized without reducing the cooling performance in consideration ofthe occurrence of a strain in the glass plate.

The each bend-shaping roller itself and each air-cooling/temperingroller itself are moved vertically in a vertical direction with thetransfer of the glass plate. By such vertical movements, a curved planeis formed by the plurality of rollers at positions where the glass plateis transferred, and the curved plane is shifted in the transferringdirection of the glass plate. In other words, the curved planecorresponds to a wave-like plane; each roller corresponds to anoscillating element of a wave, and a stroke in the vertical movement ofeach roller corresponds to an amplitude respectively. Then, by providinga phase difference in a vertical movement of each roller so that thephase of each roller is subsequently changed to a downstream side in thetransferring direction, the curved plane is shifted in the transferringdirection of the glass plate as if a wave is propagated.

Thus, by moving vertically the plurality of rollers depending on aposition of the glass plate transferred, the transferring plane formedby the plurality of rollers is curved, and the glass plate istransferred along the curved transferring plane. Accordingly, thepresent invention can omit work for exchanging rollers, which wasrequired in conventional techniques, because the glass plate can bebend-shaped and air-cooled/tempered without using a plurality of rollershaving different curvatures for treating different models. Further,since glass plates of different model can be shaped by changing only thevertical movement control data for the rollers, a job change time cansubstantially be eliminated.

In the vertical movement of the rollers, the transferring speed of ahorizontal component of the glass plate relies on a position in avertical direction of the rollers. When an angular speed of each of therollers is constant, the transferring speed of a horizontal component ofa roller at a lower side is higher than that of a roller at an upperside. Such an imbalance of speed will cause slippage between the rollersand the glass plate thereby resulting a defect such as damaging theglass plate. In view of this, it is preferable to provide arotating/driving means for rotating the plurality of rollers independentfrom each other and to control the rotating/driving means by a controldevice so that the transferring speed of a horizontal component of theglass plate is equal. With such, the above-mentioned disadvantage can beeliminated and a glass plate free from a flaw is obtainable.

A desired curved plane formed by each of air-cooling/tempering rollersmeans a curved plane which corresponds to a curved shape of a glassplate bend-shaped in the transferring direction of the glass plate.

A desired curved plane formed by each of the bend-shaping rollers is acurved plane required according to a position of the glass platetransferred on the shaping rollers. Specifically, at the most downstreamside position in the glass plate bend-shaping zone, the curved planeformed by the rollers at this position exhibits a curved shape which issubstantially in coincidence with a curved shape of the glass platefinally formed in the transferring direction of the glass plate.

As an example, a curved plane formed by each of the shaping rollerspositioned at an upstream side with respect to the most downstream sideposition has a larger radius of curvature than the curved plane formedby each of the shaping rollers at the most downstream side position.Toward an upstream side, a curved plane formed by each of the shapingrollers at a further upstream side has a further larger radius ofcurvature.

As another example, at any position in the glass plate bend-shapingzone, it is possible to form a curved plane, formed by each of theshaping rollers, to be a curved shape which is substantially incoincidence with a finally obtainable curved shape of the glass plate inthe transferring direction. In any case, for bend-shaping the glassplate into a finally obtainable curved shape, a curved plane formed byeach of the shaping rollers is a curved plane determined depending on aposition where the glass plate is transferred. In this case, the curvedshape is determined in consideration of the thickness of the glass plateand the temperature of the glass plate. It is preferred to construct thedevice so as to be able to determine appropriately as to how to changethe shape of the curved plane (or as to fix a predetermined curvedshape) depending on these conditions.

The glass plate does not often bend by its own weight instantaneously.Accordingly, it is desirable, from the viewpoint of transmittingsufficiently the transferring/driving force of each of the shapingrollers, that the radius of curvature of a curved plane formed by eachof the shaping rollers is rendered to be a radius of curvature which isgradually reduced from the upstream side, and is rendered, at the mostdownstream side position, to be a finally obtainable curve shape of theglass plate.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, since the air-cooling/tempering device for a glassplate of the present invention has the upper air-blowing heads and thelower air-blowing heads moved vertically in connection with the verticalmovement of the rollers of the roller conveyor, uniform coolingperformance can always be presented.

Further, according to the air-cooling/tempering device for a glass plateof the present invention wherein. glass plates are transferred by theroller conveyor capable of moving vertically and the air-blowing headsare moved vertically with the vertical movement of the roller conveyor,the position of the frontage in a vertical direction can be changedaccording to a curved shape of the glass plate. In this case, since thefrontage for transferring the glass plate into the air-cooling/temperingdevice can be small, the distance between the air-blowing heads and thesurfaces of the glass plate can be shortened to be a predeterminedvalue. Accordingly, the air-cooling and tempering of the glass plate inconsideration of a strain resulted in the glass plate can be realizedwithout reducing the cooling performance.

Further, according to the present invention, intervals of transferringglass plates can be shortened and the glass plates effectively beair-cooled and tempered.

What is claimed is:
 1. An air-cooling/tempering method for air-coolingand tempering a glass plate, comprising: providing a transferring deviceconfigured to transfer glass plates sequentially through an air-blowingarea and a plurality of air-blowing heads positioned along thetransferring device such that air is blown to upper faces and lowerfaces of the glass plates, the air-blowing area being divided into aplurality of areas along a transferring direction of the transferringdevice; stopping blowing of air in the air-blowing area at an uppermoststream area in the transferring direction from the beginning of atransfer of a glass plate into the air-blowing area; starting theblowing of air in the uppermost stream area when an entirety of theglass plate is transferred into the uppermost stream area; and stoppingthe blowing of air in the uppermost stream area of the air-blowing areaafter the entirety of the glass plate has been transferred from theuppermost stream area to a downstream side of the air-blowing area,wherein the transferring device comprises a plurality of temperingrollers configured to move vertically at a position where the glassplate is being transferred with the transfer of the glass plate so thata curved plane is formed in at least a portion of a transferring planeformed by the tempering rollers at the position, the curved plane beingin correspondence with a curved shape of the glass plate in thetransferring direction of the glass plate; the plurality of temperingrollers are configured to sequentially move vertically with the transferof the glass plate so that the curved plane is shifted in thetransferring direction of the glass plate with the transfer of the glassplate, and the plurality of air-blowing heads are each disposed betweenadjacent tempering rollers of the plurality of tempering rollers andconfigured to move vertically so as to correspond to the verticalmovement of each of the plurality of tempering rollers, respectively. 2.The air-cooling/tempering method according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of areas in the air-blowing area comprises a first area at anupper stream side in the transferring direction and a second area at thedownstream side thereof, and wherein the blowing of air starts in thefirst and second areas when the entirety of the glass plate istransferred into the first area, the blowing of air stops in the firstarea when the entirety of the glass plate is passed through the firstarea and the blowing of air restarts in the first area when an entiretyof a subsequent glass plate is transferred into the first area.
 3. Theair-cooling/tempering method according to claim 1, wherein the blowingof air from all the plurality of areas starts when the entirety of theglass plate is transferred into the air-blowing area, the blowing of airstops in a sequential order of areas through which the glass plate ispassed, the blowing of air restarts from all the plurality of areas whenan entirety of a subsequent glass plate is transferred into areas towhich the blowing of air is stopped, and the blowing of air stops in asequential order of areas through which the subsequent glass plate ispassed.
 4. The air-cooling/tempering method according to claim 1,wherein the blowing of air is carried out from only an area whichcorresponds to a position of the glass plate during the transfer whenthe entirety of the glass plate is being transferred in the air-blowingarea.